NJ Legacy Paterson Fall Ball: Wednesday, September 16th Notables

As the preseason gets underway in New Jersey, fall league play is providing high school prospects with valuable opportunities to compete against one another before the regular season arrives. Players have been back with their respective programs since the beginning of the month, adjusting to new teammates and increased expectations along the way. The New Jersey Legacy Fall Ball League, held at historic Paterson Catholic in Paterson, NJ, remains a prominent fixture of the state's fall basketball landscape. With another night of action in the books, several prospects delivered performances worth noting and here's a closer look at the players who made an impression this past Wednesday night.    Stepping into his sophomore year with a year of varsity experience under his belt and giving this Arts group a reliable and dependable creator, [player_tooltip player_id='2887112' first='Idriss' last='Grimsley'] more often than not displays a pertinent combination of strong ball handling skills and a knack for making smart decisions. In this one, Grimsley created paint touches at will— possessing the ability to get by his defender off the bounce and get deep in the paint to produce a mixture of advantageous scoring opportunities, compelling of drive and kick threes, hitting the dump off in the short corner area, and even strong two foot finishes in the lane.     [player_tooltip player_id='2845839' first='Zaier' last='Henry'] is a strong bodied forward whose athleticism and versatility translate across multiple facets of his game. And in this early fall ball matchup against Arts, Henry's ability to put pressure on the rim and get to the free throw line was extremely evident— seeming to absorb contact pretty much every time he sought out driving angles and attacked the basket, reflective of his physically imposing frame and willingness to welcome contact in the paint.     For some time now called upon to be one of Paterson Eastside's leading scorers and often times tasked with carrying a large chunk of the scoring production for this group, [player_tooltip player_id='2344529' first='Jariel' last='Garcia']'s scoring aggression was evident. Looking to score early and often in this one, Garcia was intentional about getting to his spots off the bounce— particularly in the mid range area, attacking out of perimeter face ups and in the mid post, going back and forth between rising up over late contests and getting to open space.     [player_tooltip player_id='2683646' first='Aaron' last='Feath'] combines intriguing positional size with a natural feel for the game, both of which continued to be on display throughout the start of the fall— highlighted by his ability to get two feet in the paint and make decisions off of jump stops coupled with using pump fakes and maintaining his court vision to find cutters. All while remaining a threat from the perimeter, both as a spot up shooter off the catch and knocking down outside shots off the dribble. Another area where was Feath was impressive was the low post, where he was able to back down smaller defenders for strong finishes around the basket and read doubles and help defense for kick out threes out on the perimeter.     [player_tooltip player_id='3587678' first='Charlie' last='Saunders']' three point shooting ability remains the foundation of his offensive value, and he reinforced that reputation once again in this early fall ball matchup versus Ridge— shining as a knockdown perimeter shooter, converting on open looks off the catch and as a movement shooter, proving to be reliably efficient across different shooting categories.     [player_tooltip player_id='2203814' first='Gabriel' last='Kielb'] provided steady scoring production from the guard spot, igniting a lot of the offensive success Ridge was able to endure— attacking the basket off the bounce and finishing from difficult angles in traffic in the lane while keeping the defense honest and remaining a threat from beyond the three point line and knocking down a number of outside looks.     [player_tooltip player_id='3575041' first='Brandon' last='Johnson']'s size, skill set, and versatility make him a difficult matchup, giving him multiple avenues to impact a game and in a showing that saw him put up a rough shooting performance, Johnson did exactly that and still found different ways to produce offensively— attacking driving angles off the bounce, being impactful in the rebounding department and getting timely offensive put backs, running the alleys with intent in transition, and even capitalizing off dump offs from penetrating ball handlers.     A forward who consistently makes his presence felt in the paint through his relentless activity, [player_tooltip player_id='3544161' first='Mateo' last='Bensimon'] continued to establish himself as a dependable front court presence where his finishing ability was evident— getting impactful put backs on the offensive glass, pushing the break in transition and finishing all the way on the other end, and even displaying his ability to make a move in the low post and finish around the rim.

As the preseason gets underway in New Jersey, fall league play is providing high school prospects with valuable opportunities to compete against one another before the regular season arrives. Players have been back with their respective programs since the beginning of the month, adjusting to new teammates and increased expectations along the way. The New Jersey Legacy Fall Ball League, held at historic Paterson Catholic in Paterson, NJ, remains a prominent fixture of the state's fall basketball landscape. With another night of action in the books, several prospects delivered performances worth noting and here's a closer look at the players who made an impression this past Wednesday night.